Rush ready to win on, off field
ADVERTISING | Football team continues push for 2nd title, adding sponsors
'One's Not Enough" is the Chicago Rush's overarching ad theme for the 2008 season. The advertising tagline is intended to express the team's desire to repeat the arena football league championship victory it savored in 2006. But the line could also apply to the team's wish to constantly expand its impressive roster of sponsors.
As Rush President and General Manager Mike Polisky knows well, both advertisers and sponsors in the sports world are intently focused now on figuring out exactly what kind of bang they will get for their sponsorship bucks -- what's commonly known as "return on investment" in the marketing world.
Fortunately, as one of the strongest franchises in the 17-team arena football league, the Chicago Rush has proven it has much to offer sponsors. The team continues to draw a strong mix of families and young adult male fans to its home games at Allstate Arena, and Rush games are frequently televised, which can be a big boost for sponsors, depending on the arrangement.
Typically, per Polisky, the Rush has been expanding its sponsor roster by about 20 percent every season. This year's new sponsors include Meijer, the regional grocery superstore chain that is aggressively advertising its presence in the Chicago marketplace. Also new to the Rush sponsor roster this year are Amtrak and TruGreen, a lawn care company.
New sponsors are great, but the Rush works to sustain sponsor relationships too. Riverwoods-based Discover Card continues on as the team's presenting sponsor. And a core group of high-profile sponsors has stuck with the Rush through the years, including Allstate, Pepsi, Jim Beam and Anheuser-Busch.
On the advertising front, the Rush wasted no time making Mike Ditka the front man for its ad campaigns when he became a part owner in 2005. Ditka is a forceful presence -- the best kind when it comes to sports-related advertising. Da Coach attends many Rush games and is available to promote the team at any time, Polisky said.
